Never heard of him? Me neither, but the Pompidou Centre says that he is “a major French artist” and is putting on the first major retrospective of his work, based around, erm, ripped up posters.


Jacques Villeglé is now 82, and back in the 1940s had the brilliant idea of taking ripped posters from the street and presenting them as art. Sometimes you just wish you’d had an idea like that first, eh? To be fair, some of his stuff is rather good. Here’s what the press release has to say about him:

The exhibition, which brings together over 100 pieces dating from the 1940s to today, takes a thematic approach to the artist, from the deconstructed typography and coloured abstraction of his beginnings to the recent rhythmic juxtapositions made up of concert posters.

A self-proclaimed ‘meanderer’, Jacques Villeglé is not of the “ready-made” school, even if does not alter the posters he finds in the street (apart from a little ‘helping hand’ in some rare cases) before pasting them onto canvas. His work is rather to let the beauty hidden in the layers of paper, ripped by anonymous hands or sometimes scrawled upon, break through the urban chaos.

Villeglé’s work reveals how much our regard is conditioned by our everyday visual environment, and reactivates our memory in a critical but also fun way. Positioned between New Realism, Lettrism and the Situationist International, Villeglé’s work, heavily rooted in its time, is also appreciated by the younger generations.

Here’s all the essential information for the Jacques Villeglé exhibition at the Pompidou Centre

When: 17th September 2008 – 5th January 2009
Where: Pompidou Centre, place Georges Pompidou, Paris 4th arrondissement. Métro Rambuteau (line 11), Hôtel de Ville (lines 1 & 11), Châtelet (practically every line). Bus n°s 21 / 29 / 38 / 47 / 58 / 69 / 70 / 72 / 74 / 75 / 76 / 81 / 85 / 96
Opening hours: open every day except Tuesdays, 11am – 9pm, late opening Wednesdays, Thursdays & Fridays until 11pm for certain exhibitions (check site for details)
Admission price: 12 euros for adults, free for under 18s. 18-25 year olds go free on Wednesday evening from 6pm – 9pm
Wikipedia page for Jacques Villeglé: here

Bigger map here